A month ago I wrote of daughter Luan asking to have a graduation Open House at my house. I eagerly agreed, then thoughts flooded my head on what had to be done to make this place presentable.
The lawn needed bare spots reseeded. The flower beds needed immediate plantings and plenty of watering. Our swimming pool had to have a new motor, repaired circulating cleaner and the diving board had to have mildew removed.
I hadn’t thought of that. I hadn’t even seen it, but Luan did. She also saw our pool-side table was unacceptable at a party for HER son.
After that Jottings column appeared several people commented on their own Open Houses. Dottie had no sympathy, ‘Now you know what we (women) go through.?
Polly asked, ‘Have you got all your geraniums planted?? Others: ‘Are your weeds all pulled?? ‘How about those cedars the ice storm broke off? Have you cleaned them up yet??
Jan said, ‘I told my kids to rent a hall!?
If that entered Luan’s mind, she kept it to herself.
Through my earn-a-living days I practiced: think ahead, plan ahead, be ahead, stay ahead, expect the unexpected.
For this Open House I did all but the latter. Long time readers of this column know I like mowing lawn. Hazel used to kid me (I think she was kidding), ‘You’ve only mowed the lawn twice this week, don’t you think it needs it again??
I mow with a 3-reel, 6-foot cut grass cutter like you see at golf courses. I certainly couldn’t anticipate this cutting machine breaking down days before the party, but it did.
I asked the repair guy if he could get it back in four days because I had a party planned. He said, ‘Isn’t that always the way?? Then he went on to say he’d have to order parts.
Don’t tell me lack of water means less mowing. It rains you know, and, as I said, I like to mow.
And, I could hardly expect a line in my underground sprinkling system to spring a leak. Well, maybe I could, but I didn’t.
Those digging, bending, kneeling hours of labor hastened my visit to neurological surgeon Dr. Harold Portnoy. I reminded him I was the one he operated on ten years ago. He said he remembered doing more than one that year.
He said he wasn’t inclined to operate this time, but he didn’t prescribe any rest. He really could have, you know?
In my be-prepared thinking I got a hose-attachable mosquitos-be-gone bottle of killer of flying things.
At least Luan and I were on this page together. She gave me mosquito repeller ideas.
? Wipe your baby with Bounce Fabric Softener sheets.
? Use Vick’s Vaporub.
? Use Avon Skin-So-Soft bath oil mixed about half and half with alcohol. (Not in your stomach.)
? Apply pure vanilla.
? Don’t eat bananas. They produce an oil on your skin mosquitos like.
? Plant marigolds. Mosquitos don’t like their smell.
I didn’t know that when I planted over five flats of these mosquito repellers, plantings that helped get me to Dr. Portnoy.